This can replace a music stand on stage...

[jwlussow]

 

yeah, I hate those unprofessional symphony guys with their music stands ;-)

 

 

The Chicago Symphony rarely plays any of the local rock bars around here. Maybe things are different for you.

 

The original "stand on stage" argument only really applies to cover bands playing local bars.

[W. M. Hellinger]

The Chicago Symphony rarely plays any of the local rock bars around here. Maybe things are different for you. The original "stand on stage" argument only really applies to cover bands playing local bars.

Gowahead and try to tip the Chicago Symphony to get them to play something that isn't on their music stands. I'd like to try to imagine what quantity of tip would actually make it happen.

[StratGuy22]

yeah, I hate those unprofessional symphony guys with their music stands ;-)

Hacks.

[GigMan]

Yer joking, right? I have never seen, worked with, or played in a party band who plays to their music stands that could successfully field a not on the set-list request. Never, ever. Last night we played 4 requested songs that were not on our repertoire lists... we'd never played them as a group, and I doubt that any of us had ever played them. 3 out of the 4 were... well... pure magic. The 4th... was cut short as we just didn't have it in our collective heads. The other 3 were added to our repertoire... I hope we can do them as well sometime in the future as we did them cold. The only member of our band that fell flat on their face during the impromptus... was the guy who's been playing to his music stand his entire professional career (3 decades +)... and he's without question the only one who's never gotten better at his craft... I don't know why we keep him around... kind of a Klingon who's really good at basically being a machine (who

[StratGuy22]

Yer joking, right? I have never seen, worked with, or played in a party band who plays to their music stands that could successfully field a not on the set-list request. Never, ever. Also: I have never successfully ordered a meal or dish off the menu from a cook who cooks by their cookbook. never. Last night we played 4 requested songs that were not on our repertoire lists... we'd never played them as a group, and I doubt that any of us had ever played them. 3 out of the 4 were... well... pure magic. The 4th... was cut short as we just didn't have it in our collective heads. The other 3 were added to our repertoire... I hope we can do them as well sometime in the future as we did them cold. The only member of our band that fell flat on their face during the impromptus... was the guy who's been playing to his music stand his entire professional career (3 decades +)... and he's without question the only one who's never gotten better at his craft... I don't know why we keep him around... kind of a Klingon who's really good at basically being a machine (who

[RANUI]

The exhilaration of pulling off a song you mostly know but havent practiced or played before can be icing on the cake when it works.

[335BoB]

When I grow up I want to be like some of you!!!

Until then: This mediocre Acoustic Solo/Duo just starting out WILL use a crutch called a music stand and expect to continue to get the compliments as usual. To the rest of you that wouldn't pay to see such an act, there is no cover but I would appreciate it if you stayed home anyway.

[jwlussow]

Why are people so thin skinned? This anti-stand movement is for full rock cover bands. Duos, combos, jazz, symphony orchestras are not part of the original rant. THis is for the 4 piece rock and roll cover bands that need to hide behind music stands. Keyboard players that have music on their keys are not mentioned as they do not need the music stand as a wall between them and the audience. Music stands are totally acceptable in many situations. In the rock band weekend warrior world, they are not.

 

My problem is with the frontman that keeps all his lyrics on a stand and reads the whole show. Bass and guitar players up front using stands is also bad. Keys, horns and players in the back can use them, no problem. It is just about that music stand at the front of a stage and the players and singers that need something to hide behind.

[W. M. Hellinger]

When I grow up I want to be like some of you!!! Until then: This mediocre Acoustic Solo/Duo just starting out WILL use a crutch called a music stand and expect to continue to get the compliments as usual. To the rest of you that wouldn't pay to see such an act, there is no cover but I would appreciate it if you stayed home anyway.

awe now... don't be like that.

If it truly works for you, use it. I do however suggest video taping your performance and critically review it (if you haven't yet done so) to see if the stand is seamless... or is it this "thing"?

I'm of the impression that live entertainment that is something besides a music recital and is the focus of the crowd's attention, then: I'll suggest that most crowds prefer that the entertainer be pandering to them (the crowd). If the entertainer's focus seems to be on a "thing" that's between the entertainer and the crowd... that can be a wet blanket on the whole effect. If the reference material is out of sightlines and is seamless... hey, no problem.

[Speedhead]

To each their own....but for me I would never play in a band that had a frontman/lead singer that used a stand to read lyrics from. I would also never attempt to play requests of songs we really didnt know, just not my thing.

I am primarily a drummer, but also do some lead vocals while I drum. Up to approximately 10 songs a night I have done lead on. I really always have had lyrics memorized but I do have to admit I would at times keep a cheat sheet beside my kit on the floor...with only the first word of each line written on it. Sometimes on new material I would second guess myself and look over for that first word just to make sure.



Edit: and I've also noticed that once you start using them, you start needing them! Memory needs to be exercised!

[335BoB]

Why are people so thin skinned? This anti-stand movement is for full rock cover bands. Duos, combos, jazz, symphony orchestras are not part of the original rant. THis is for the 4 piece rock and roll cover bands that need to hide behind music stands. Keyboard players that have music on their keys are not mentioned as they do not need the music stand as a wall between them and the audience. Music stands are totally acceptable in many situations. In the rock band weekend warrior world, they are not. My problem is with the frontman that keeps all his lyrics on a stand and reads the whole show. Bass and guitar players up front using stands is also bad. Keys, horns and players in the back can use them, no problem. It is just about that music stand at the front of a stage and the players and singers that need something to hide behind.

 

 

 

Read back through this thread as see if all the "put-downs" are directed ONLY at rock bands. If it is only rock bands then I apologize!

[W. M. Hellinger]

Edit: and I've also noticed that once you start using them, you start needing them! Memory needs to be exercised!

 

Agreed.

 

I played in a band who included a violinist for a short while... she didn't work out as the fiddle player they needed. She was regarded a virtuoso musician, and probably rightly so as she could sight read anything and get it right the first time... and every time... exactly as it was written on the sheet music. Although she played with a high profile symphony at the time... she literally couldn't play "Mary Had a Little Lamb" without sheet music... couldn't even play the first note to "Mary Had a Little Lamb" in ANY key without sheet music. Trouble was thet that band never played a song the same way twice in a row... and changing the violinist's sheet music part way through the song to fit the new fiddle part didn't work out.

 

I remember from high school typing class... the instructor insisted we not look at the typewriter keys. I wish I'd sooner understood the reason for his insistence of not looking at the keys because: I played bass for a couple decades... spending the whole of every performance staring at the fingerboard. It wasn't till I reviewed a video of my playing that I realized I looked like a dork staring at my bass guitar's fretboard all night. Then I forced myself to not look at the fretboard (by wearing dark Raybans on stage)... and then realized that if I'm not looking at where my fingers are at... but rather I had to visualize in my mind where they are and where they need to go... I started visualizing my playing in my head... which quickly evolved to not even thinking about where my fingers are, as they just did what they were supposed to... which allowed me to seriously concentrate on playing WITH the band and playing with the song

[madjack]

IMHO the distraction of anything onstage is dependent upon the players. I would rather see a bar band with music stands onstage to which they occassionaly refer than see players staring at their hands and fingers all night, or see that player who constantly has to be tweaking his/her amp/processor settings, or that player who is spending all time and effort on mixing from stage.
As to the stands needed for rarely played songs; I find personally that if it is a song the band has never/rarely played I likely don't have the lyrics available anyway, and so will just fake it (like the prom back in '72 at which we sang about knights in white satin). For me, onstage stands are mostly for setlists, and those 4 or 5 songs the band has recently learned which I have not yet completely memorized.

[Telecruiser]

I can see being a party band that get s a lot of requests that you need to have an occasional reference. This is no differnet than the bartender that gets a request for an oddball drink and has to refer to a book to make it.

But, from the perspective of a listener a music stand in front of the lead singer just looks unprofessional. It is not only the stand but it is the singer constantly averting their eyes to it to read lyrics. It looks like the singer has not done their preparation for the job at hand. To me it detracts from the show.

Now, having said that, the older pros (Clapton, McCartney etc.) use telepromters that are placed on the floor out front with the monitors. As a listener/concert attendee, you never know they are using it.

To me, it is not the fact that you need something to help you to reference lyrics. It is the visual of it being there that, to me, detracts from the performance.

I am getting ready to start doing a single. I have always had problems memorizing lyrics (big problems) but I will not go out there until I have 50-60 tunes "in the bank". As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have found some herbal assistance to improving my memory and it is speeding things along quite nicely. But I do not want to look like a hack and the music stand, to me, makes the lead singer look like a hack.

[Craig Vecchione]

If you have a means of getting your lyrics or music cues without it being a distraction or detracting from the entertainment, that's fine. If that means you're in a symphony orchestra and have a stand and books, that's fine. If you're McCartney and you have an in-stage teleprompter, and you still play without staring, that's fine. It's when the use of the stand is incongruous with the music genre, or the device being used is an obvious distraction...that's when you need to work on your memory, your act, or your tools.

[jwlussow]

I can see being a party band that get s a lot of requests that you need to have an occasional reference. This is no differnet than the bartender that gets a request for an oddball drink and has to refer to a book to make it. But, from the perspective of a listener a music stand in front of the lead singer just looks unprofessional. It is not only the stand but it is the singer constantly averting their eyes to it to read lyrics. It looks like the singer has not done their preparation for the job at hand. To me it detracts from the show. Now, having said that, the older pros (Clapton, McCartney etc.) use telepromters that are placed on the floor out front with the monitors. As a listener/concert attendee, you never know they are using it. To me, it is not the fact that you need something to help you to reference lyrics. It is the visual of it being there that, to me, detracts from the performance. I am getting ready to start doing a single. I have always had problems memorizing lyrics (big problems) but I will not go out there until I have 50-60 tunes "in the bank". As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have found some herbal assistance to improving my memory and it is speeding things along quite nicely. But I do not want to look like a hack and the music stand, to me, makes the lead singer look like a hack.

 

AMEN

[imnotded]

I think this thread has gone slightly off track. It has turned out to be a like/dislike to music stands on stage. Most people are forgetting that this is an iPad, not a music stand. Yes, it can be used for lyric sheets, chord sheets, set lists and the like, but it has so much more that it can do. jwlussow mentioned hit on a little bit.

 

There are apps that can run your DMX lighting. You can run (at least partially run) your Studio Live with an iPad. There are RTA's you can get, frequency generators, all sorts of things that can help a band out. There are even apps and hardware that allow you to use it as a virtual pedal board.

 

I think it will be tool that grows with time as more apps are released for it and updates are made.